More and more local administrations develop their innovation capacities, through “public innovation labs” often based on design methods: co-design with citizens, immersions, experimentation, iterative prototyping and testing development processes, etc. This participatory session will question emerging practices in governance and in the definition of urban public policies, e.g.: -How to start a public innovation process by design? -How to set up a design innovation lab in your administration? European Week of Regions and Cities

The OECD organized a very important Global Conference on Innovation and the focus was clearly centered in the main challenges for the future. Innovation will be more and more the new enabler of competitiveness in a complex economy and it is essential to mobilize the universities, companies and other actors to the challenge of competitiveness. The importance of Innovation is more and more consolidated and in a time of crisis there is a real possibility of having newresultswithconcreteimpacts.

There is a clear sense that Innovation is the right tool for the near future.

This New Collaboration experience is very important to Europe. Europe must be able to be the real Platform of a more Entrepreneurial Society, centered in new areas of knowledge and new sectors of value. That ́s why the example of these hubs, with their focus on high-added value clusters – like ICT and Fashion, among others

– envolving strong partnerships with Multinationals and Start Ups and the local authorities is a good demonstration of this New Strategic Partnership for the Future.

Innovation promote a new set of studies oriented to the real added value of companies in the market, supported by the strategic knowledge and experience of managers and doctorates from the universities. The focus on Innovation as the driver of creating added value with international dissemination is a challenge for the future – some Hubs have been developing strong strategic networks of Knowledge with different areas of the world, like Asia and South America.

The focus on Innovation must be a point of departure for the future. The quality of the Effective Education must be the new competitive advantage of these Intelligent Universities, pushed by a global idea of Modernity,

Added Value and Excellence. A very clear idea that suits the big challenge that our society really faces and that requires new answers for different questions. The act of global participation in such a demanding society is an exercise of commitment between the individual creativity and the collective cooperation.

The practical collaboration of Relevant Firms and Universities / Hubs of Innovation in the Strategic Ambition of this Agenda is well exemplified by some experiences – with a commitment with innovation, quality and creativity, the message of the distinction will be the right umbrella for a different individual and collective integration of ideas and solutions. Innovation and Entrepreneurship play an intelligent commitment between its local role and its global ambition.

The Innovation Agenda is a great challenge to our economies and societies. This Collaboration experience is an important contribution to a society that must be able to understand this new time and address effective answers to the different stakeholders of the system. The contribution of Innovation will be more important and critical as this message is really understood by the main stakeholders involved in the process.

OCTA Innovation under leadership of Mr Milan Jezic von Gesseneck (left on the photo) has developed into an innovation think tank committed to best outcomes in island states in the Atlantic and South Pacific. With innovation as the engine of sustainable development, Milan has lead developing innovation, including a new concept in learning, blended education. From his experience of working in developing countries, he developed a learning methodology that brings together most effortless in-job education, with structured distance learning enabling the students on minimal face to face support (often not available on the islands) to gain from the most advanced education tools and gain valuable qualifications.

In the summer of 2017 University of Aruba and Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (University of Leuven) signed a 5-year partnership agreement for the Green Faculty at the University of Aruba. Under leadership of Mr Glenn Thodé (middle on the photo) the Green Faculty encapsulates an academic program focused on research in the field of sustainability, and application of new technologies related to green, renewable energy, in combination with economic and social sciences. The Green Faculty is a major leap forward for all region. By welcoming high-level experts and academic staff, the Green Faculty will, no doubt become the hotbed of learning in the Caribbean. Great work Glenn!

From economic hit-man to protector. Emerging from the world of hard, imperial economics where power is unscrupulously used to further interest of global finance, Mr John Perkins (right on the photo) has been reborn into one of the strongest protectors of natural life and resources. Advising small countries and organizations that protect resources and support economics that respects both environment and societal needs, John is using his economic knowledge and commitment to sustainable and circular economy. We love this work.

On the first sight these three approaches are unrelated. But they form the big picture of economic and societal prosperity in the Overseas Countries and Territories, the Three Pillars.

Goal:The Swedish National Innovation Council (NIC) was created by the Prime Minister on February 9, 2015. In February 2017 it was restructured and Charles was reappointed for a second term, which runs until September 30, 2018.

The purpose of NIC is to develop Sweden’s national innovation system and thereby mitigate societal and environmental challenges as well as enhancing productivity growth and employment. NIC has an advisory role and adds new perspectives on questions of importance for innovation policy. NIC deals with policy issues that represent the most important parts of a coherent and holistic innovation policy. It contributes to the development of a coordinated and integrated innovation policy.

The Prime Minister is the chairman of NIC, and there is no deputy chairman. The Council meets four times per year, for 4 – 6 hours each time. From February 2017 NIC has the following responsible ministers and members.Responsible Ministers:•Stefan Löfven, Prime Minister•Magdalena Andersson, Minister of Finance•Mikael Damberg, Minister for Enterprise and Innovation•Helene Hellmark Knutsson•Isabella Lövin, Minister for International Development Cooperation and Climate, and Deputy Prime Minister

Members of the NIC come from the business and research sectors. They are:•Ola Asplund, Senior Adviser, IF Metall•Mengmeng Du, entrepreneur and board member of various companies•Charles Edquist, Professor in Innovation Studies at the Centre for Innovation, Research and Competence in the Learning Economy (CIRCLE), Lund University•Darja Isaksson, digital strategist•Sigbritt Karlsson, President of KTH, Royal Institute of Technology•Martin Lundstedt, President and CEO of the Volvo Group•Johan Rockström, Professor in Environmental Science and Executive Director of Stockholm Resilience Centre at Stockholm University•Karl-Henrik Sundström, CEO and Managing Director of Stora Enso•Jane Walerud, entrepreneur•Carola Öberg, project manager at Innovationsfabriken Gnosjöregionen

To support its activities, the Innovation Council has a small office in the Prime Minister’s Office. The principal secretary of the Innovation Council is Wille Birksten. Oskar Thorslund is the Administrative Director of the office.

Responding to grid outages in South Australia, Tesla CEO Elon Musk touched off a Twitter “storm” this week when he said the company could solve the problem within 100 days. Musk’s pledge that Tesla would install as much as 300 megawatts (MW) of lithium-ion BESS capacity within that time frame or do the work for free galvanized politicians, the industry and broad public and led to a meeting with Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull.

Despite sharp declines, the cost of installing Li-ion battery storage remains high. By and large, existing regulatory frameworks limit the extent to which they can be applied and economically compete with conventional grid technology. Proponents point out that there are substantial, unaccounted for social and environmental benefits to be gained by deploying BESS; particularly when it comes to integrating BESS with distributed renewable energy assets, however.Read more

On the base of the success of this first round of networking innovation events, the best and second best will be recognized.

The next round of networking innovation events will be financially supported.

After the second round events take place, costs of the catering will be paid upon receiving invoice from the service provider. Maximum amount of the costs to be supported is 500 € per OCT for 18 OCTs, one time 1000€, one time 1500€ for the best and second best OCT in the second round.

President Barack Obama in interview with Bill Maher:
“We got to have a market-based system because it is very productive, and spurs out innovation and freedom and entrepreneurship, and you got to have a social welfare state.”